T'is the Season
by cookie-dough
Summary: Mulder and Scully are working a case out of town, but are told they’ll be home for Christmas. But will the weather have something to say about that?


Title: T'is the Season

Author: cookie-dough

Email: 

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Summary: Mulder and Scully are working a case out of town, but are told they'll be home for Christmas. But will the weather have something to say about that?

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Mulder, Scully or anything to do with the X Files, please don't sue, I'm a student!

Distribution: If ya want it, let me know.

AN: I wrote this last year but it was too late to post in time for Christmas, so read, review and enjoy!

Scully stared out of the window at the white landscape before her, while Christmas carols drifted from the old record player. She and Mulder had just solved a case and were due home in the morning, in time for Christmas Eve. They had spent the following week in a log cabin, as the only motel within miles was fully booked due to the holidays. Skinner had told them, he didn't care if they had to stay at the Ritz as long as they caught this guy. They had stumbled across an advertisement on the notice board at the local diner explaining that due to a late cancellation the cabin was available. They called the owner and booked in for the week, but now that that time was almost over, Scully wistfully hoped to stay longer. Sure in DC she had her family, but Christmas was always so busy, 6am roll calls and not a moment's peace. She loved her family, of course, but sometimes she just wished she could have a quiet, relaxing Christmas. Here she could pretend, she had a Christmas tree, a log fire, no computers, no TV and no phones, and she was miles away from civilisation. That had been Mulder's only complaint, that they had to travel into town to use a phone, but Scully savoured the relaxation that the lack of technology presented.

She folded her arms across her chest, snuggling deeper into her knitted jumper and returned to her seat in front of the fire. Bringing her feet up onto the seat, she picked up her mug of coffee and warmed her hands with it.

"Hey Scully, how about giving me a hand here." Mulder said holding up three sets of fairy lights all intertwined.

Taking in the sight before her, she wondered how he had managed to confuse the situation any further.

"Mulder, they look more tangled then when you started."

"I'm telling you Scully it's a conspiracy against the good folk who choose to decorate their houses for the festive season. Every year people are forced to repeat the hallowed event of swimming through miles of fairy lights, it becomes a Christmas tradition in itself."

"Stop complaining." She said taking a seat next to him on the floor.

Giving up he handed her the lights. Choosing one set of plain lights to start on, she began to follow the cable. To Mulder's surprise she was actually making some leeway with the dreaded spaghetti fiasco of Christmas lights that sat before him, though he would never admit it.

"Here, hold." She said passing him the cable as it came free.

"So Scully, what are your plans this Christmas. Turkey, crackers, some guy in your stocking?"

"I hate to disappoint you Mulder, but this Christmas is to be one of rest and relaxation."

"What no twister?"

"Contrary to your popular belief Mulder, not everyone is still a kid at heart."

"But that's why you love me right, I'm hyperactive and colour in between the lines."

She shook her head and smiled.

"What about you, besides twister and a woman in your stocking, what are your plans?"

"The usual, food, presents and sleep, not necessarily in that order."

"Ta da." She said pulling the strand of fairy lights out of the pile.

"Go girl."

"Now just these two and we can start decorating that tree." She said, looking over at the bear Christmas tree that stood in the corner.

The cabin had one already, all they needed to do was decorate. They were told to help themselves to the collection in the store cupboard. It had been sitting in the corner since they arrived; yet with the case they had no time to spare. Although they were leaving in the morning, it seemed a shame not to decorate it.

"I'll go get the other decorations."

"And leave me with these." She said holding up what remained of the tangled lights.

"But Scully, you're doing so well, I don't want to interrupt progress." He said smiling, as he wandered off in search of the decorations.

Scully had untangled the lights in no time and Mulder soon arrived with two boxes, filled with tinsel and tree ornaments. Putting on another Christmas record, they decorated the tree.

Sitting down with a glass of wine, and lights only from the tree and log fire they admired their work.

"Not bad is it?" Scully said, taking another sip of her wine.

"Not bad at all." He replied.

Turning to her he spoke. "What's your Christmas wish Scully?"

Giving it no thought at all. "I wish we could stay here."

Before he could speak the grandfather clock signalled the hour of 12 midnight.

"Wow it's late, I'd better turn in, we've got a long flight ahead of us tomorrow." She said getting up and taking her glass into the kitchen. She returned to the living room.

"Night Mulder."

"Night Scully." He replied and she left the room. Mulder drank down the rest of his wine, and stared at the tree. "Merry Christmas." He whispered.

"Mulder." She said shaking him. "Mulder wake up."

"Huh." He said looking up from the couch.

"Couldn't make it to bed huh?" she asked.

"Something like that."

"Well come on, get up we have to leave in an hour." And with that she disappeared into the kitchen to make breakfast.

Sitting up, he rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. Walking into his room, he grabbed his watch off the bedside table. A little after 7am. It was then that he noticed how dark his room was. He made his way to the window and opened the curtains.

"Huh." He said standing back.

Confused he walked into the living room and pulled the curtains. The same event occurred.

"Scully?"

"Do you want toast?" she called from the kitchen.

"Scully?"

Coming out of the kitchen she asked again. "Do you want toast?"

"Scully, look out the window."

She looked at the window frame. "I will when you pull the curtains." She said reaching for them. Then realised that they were already open.

"Very funny Mulder, oh no we're snowed in." she said in a sarcastic tone.

"Scully I'm not kidding. I checked the bedroom as well, we're snowed in." She gave him a 'yeah right' look but noticed the seriousness on his face.

"You're kidding." She said, letting him know enough was enough.

"Don't believe me, go look for yourself."

She left the room and headed for the bedroom. Still not believing him, she searched every window in the house.

She shuffled into the kitchen where Mulder sat drinking his coffee.

"So?" he asked.

"We're snowed in." she replied.

She took a seat at the table, resting her head in her hands. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't see why your complaining Scully." He said siding a cup of coffee in front of her.

"What are you talking about, it's Christmas Eve and we're snowed in, with no phone, no email or radio, how do we have any hope of contacting anyone to get us out of here?" She looked up at him.

"What if we weren't snowed in?" he asked.

"What?"

"What if we weren't snowed in, and we went home today. What's waiting for you, for either of us if we're in DC for Christmas? Nothing different from every other year."

She paused and thought about it. She had only been wishing she could stay here, mere hours ago. Nothing awaited her in DC and she probably would have spent the majority of the day listening to Mulder moaning down the phone about the lack of entertainment on television.

"You said yourself, this Christmas you wanted rest and relaxation."

"Your right." She said, a smile appearing on her face.

"Of course I'm right, have I ever been wrong?" From Scully's look he mumbled. "Never mind." And drank his coffee.

They had had a long, leisurely breakfast and chatted in front of the fire. Getting dressed they decided to snoop around the cabin. With the heavy case load they had had little time for anything else besides work, and being snowed in gave them the perfect excuse.

Searching through the storage cupboard they found another two boxes of decorations and decided that the rest of the cabin could use the festive sprit. Placing the boxes on the floor, they sat by the fire and emptied the contents.

"Oh no, Scully you take this box." Mulder said sliding it across to her. She laughed when she looked inside, another collection of lights sat in a relatively neat pile.

"Maybe I should unpack these." She said pulling them out as carefully as she could.

Luckily for them, the lights had been wound and tied together to keep them separate.

"Why couldn't they have done the same with the other box?" Mulder complained.

"Not everyone thinks ahead." She said untying them. "Usually they just get thrown back in the box ready for next year."

"Why would people do such a thing." He replied in a shocked manner.

"I've seen your Christmas lights, remember?" She stood up and unrolled the lights.

He stood to help. "So where are we gonna put these?"

Looking around the room, she pointed to the window. "How about some around the window frame?"

"Lead the way."

Getting into the festive sprit, they sang along to the carols as they decked the halls with tinsel and lights.

Pausing for lunch they assessed their food supply. They had enough to last them for another week. Going through the cupboards they made a list of what they had that could be considered as Christmas Day lunch. The cabin had provided a Christmas hamper of food that they had yet to open, and they had what was left from their shopping trip. So all in all they had the ingredients for a good meal. They spent the remainder of the day decorating and clearing up.

They sat in front the fire, coffee mugs in hand.

"Hey Scully, don't forget to leave out some milk and cookies."

"Why, is someone expecting Santa?"

"No, I just tend to get peckish in the middle of the night."

She smiled. "We're gonna have to find something to do to pass the time. I don't think we have anymore decorations left." Mulder raised his eyebrows and grinned.

"Is that all you ever think about?"

"A man has needs."

"I don't want to know about your needs Mulder."

She glanced at her watch, it was getting late. She finished her coffee and placed the mug on the table. Standing she stretched her arms above her head and yawned.

"Wow doing nothing really wears you out huh?" Mulder said standing with her.

"Yeah I think I'll call it a night." She turned to leave the room.

"Scully?"

"Yeah?" He walked up to her and produced a plastic piece of mistletoe.

"T'is the season." he said sheepishly.

"Where did you get that?" she grinned.

"I ah, found it in one of the boxes."

"Hoping you'd get lucky?" she grinned.

"Once I've baseded that turkey Scully, you may have to give us a minute." He grinned.

"Well if you'd rather kiss the turkey..." she started.

He leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on her lips. Pulling back they opened their eyes.

"Night Mulder." she said leaving him standing in the same spot. She turned and grinned as she left the room.

Mulder couldn't form any words. It wasn't until she had left the room that he could mumble out the words 'night Scully'.

Mulder lay awake all night, unable to sleep. All he could think about was the kiss that he and Scully had shared. He knew that there was some special connection between the two of them, but he never knew how strongly he felt, until tonight. They had worked side by side on so many cases and trusted each other completely; it was inevitable that their feelings would evolve.

He checked his watch, 5:30am. Deciding that lying in bed thinking about the situation he was in, was doing no good, Mulder got up and went into the kitchen. Opening the fridge he found the Christmas hamper and decided that now was a good a time as any to get a start on preparing the food. He would surprise Scully when she woke up, the food would be ready to cook and breakfast would be on the table. She had wanted a relaxing holiday, so Mulder got started on fulfilling her wish.

Scully awoke to the sound of the kettle boiling, sitting up she checked her watch, a little after 8:30am. She smiled as she snuggled deeper into the covers, enjoying the rare lye in that she had incurred. This was soon interrupted as pots and pans clattered to the floor. She bolted into a sitting position and heard Mulder mumble a few phrases, she could only work out the odd word here and there. Grabbing her robe she put on her slippers and made her way into the kitchen.

Mulder was crouched down on the floor picking up the pans that had obviously missed the worktop. Scully grinned as she took in the site before her.

"Have you been using that workout video again Mulder?"

He spun around and took in her disheveled hair and wide grin, his heart was racing. So using his charm as a defense mechanism he spoke.

"I do it all for you Scully." He grinned and led her to the table.

Glancing around the kitchen, she noticed that he had been busy.

"I can't believe you've got so much done. What time did you get up anyway?" she said as he slid a plate of toast in front of her.

"Well." he said as he returned with a pot of coffee, and poured some in her mug. "I had trouble sleeping and thought, why not make a start." he took a seat opposite her and poured himself a coffee, leaning over and pinching a piece of toast from her plate.

"So what are the plans for today, after all it is Christmas." she asked taking a sip of coffee.

"Well once breakfast is done, you can get changed and I'll start cooking. Then I figure we eat and listen to carols by the fire."

Smiling she nodded. "That sounds like a great idea." He grinned and reached for another piece of toast.

They had sat down to eat lunch at about 1pm. Thankfully the hamper had provided them with more than enough food and by the time that they had finished, neither had much energy left to do anything. Clearing the dishes away, Scully washed as Mulder dried and to save time they both put the dishes away. Retreating to the sofa they sat and talked like never before. As Mulder listened to her talk about her past, he couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't noticed the way he felt about her sooner. When they went out on assignments, people always thought they were a couple, that they were married. This lead Mulder to wonder what that would be like, he and Scully married. He smiled.

"What are you grinning at?" she asked with a smile.

"What, ah?"

"You where smiling about something."

"It's nothing." she looked at him, but backed off.

He poured them another glass of wine. They were already nearing the end of their second bottle, all complements of the owners. They had another three in the kitchen.

"Okay, present time." Scully said as she leaned over the back of the sofa.

"Present time?" he asked. Had she bought him a present, he was worried because he left her present back in DC.

"Scully, I ah, your present is back home." he said a little sheepishly.

"So is yours, but I found this here, well you'll see." she said handing him a box she had wrapped in her scarf.

He looked down at the gift.

"Well go ahead." she said and he began to unwrap it.

He had to take a second look. "Twister!" she laughed.

"Scully where did you get this?" he asked opening the box.

"I found it when we were looking for decorations, we'll have to give it back, but I'll get you one when we go home."

"This is great, thank you." he said kissing her cheek.

"No problem." she smiled.

"Lets set it up." he said as he pushed the coffee table out of the way.

"I'll get some more wine." she said holding up the empty bottle.

"Why Dana Scully are you trying to get me drunk."

She pretended to think it over. "Yes."

"Then bring it on."

The game was all set up, seen as there were only two of them, they had to spin for each other.

"I am so gonna win." Mulder stated matter a factly.

"Why do you think I'm trying to get you drunk, I need the upper hand." Scully said handing him another glass of wine.

Downing it in one, he stood on the mat. "Bring it on."

Downing hers, she stood opposite him, ready for war.

Two minutes later, Scully had her hands behind her and her feet on either side of the mat. Mulder, who was above her, had his legs either side of her left leg and a hand by her right side. She leaned over to spin. Giggling she spoke. Right hand green. He laughed and reached for the circle. Now he was completely on top of her. The giggling soon subsided as they stared at one another.

This could be my chance, he thought. If she doesn't feel the same, at least I can blame it on the wine. He decided that if he didn't speak up then he'd loose his chance.

"Scully I..."

She reached up and kissed him. At first he was shocked, to say the least then he fell into it. Breaking apart for air he looked down at her. She hid her gaze from him. Was she embarrassed?

"I'm sorry, Mulder I..." he leaned forward and captured her mouth with his. She didn't pull away, only deepened the kiss and they collapsed to the floor. Regretting for having to, he pulled away.

He grinned at the dazed look on her face.

"There's something I've been trying to tell you." Scully began.

"Me too."

"You first." she said.

"No, after you."

"Mulder I insist."

"Well so do I."

Having enough they both spoke at the same time.

"I think I'm in love with you."

"Wow that went a lot easier than I expected." Mulder replied.

"I've gotta say I didn't see that one coming." she said.

"So when did things change for you?"

She sighed. "I guess deep down I always knew, but this weekend when I thought about what I would be doing in DC, and what I could have here. My decision was easy." She smiled. "What about you Mulder?"

"When you kissed me last night, it brought back feelings I didn't even know I was hiding. And I realised that you're with me every day, but you always have to leave and I hate it when work finishes, because I know I have to wait until the next day before I can see you again."

She smiled. "I guess we were the last people to see it."

Leaning forward to kiss her, he whispered. "Let's not be the last again Scully."

The end


End file.
